Cashing in from branch closures

BIG four bank ANZ has been slammed for putting profits ahead of people after shutting more than 100 bank branches nationally in just over 12 months.

The banking giant has already revealed it will be shutting 18 branches this year in states including Victoria, NSW, Tasmania and Queensland. ANZ closed nearly two branches a week over 2020, closing 91 locations nationally.

The financial institution’s mass closures come despite the bank raking in $3.76bn in fullyear profits in the pandemic.

The Finance Sector Union’s national secretary Julia Angrisano criticised the shutting of branches and said banks were putting profits ahead of providing services to customers.

“Banks are still blaming customers for branch closures, claiming falsely that the public doesn’t value branches and prefer to complete their financial transactions online,” she said. “It is the banks which prefer to force customers online because they can reduce staff numbers, save money on wages and rents and increase profits.”

But ANZ is not alone in dumping branches in both metropolitan and regional locations during the pandemic – many other big banks have shut branches since the start of 2020. This includes the Commonwealth Bank, which closed 19 locations, 10 from Westpac group and nine from National Australia Bank.

ANZ’s managing director of retail Katherine Bray said they had seen a “significant spike in customers choosing digital options”.

“Whenever we have to make a tough decision to close any of our branches, we notify customers and let them know about all the alternatives they have available,” she said.

“Of our employees who were working in a branch that closed last year, we were able to find new roles or redeployment opportunities for nearly all of them, including at remote locations.”

It’s the second time in just a week ANZ has come under fire after it was revealed they would stop lending to Australia’s biggest coal port, the Port of Newcastle.

Latest Australian Prudential Regulation Authority data showed in June 2020 there were 5816 bank branches nationally, a drop of about 640 branches over three years.

Australian Banking Association chief executive Anna Bligh said an uptick in people doing their banking online was fuelling bank closures.

“Digital banking has changed the way Australians bank and the services they expect and COVID-19 has accelerated this change,” she said.

“Branch closures are not taken lightly by any bank and are always the result of a dramatic change in customer use.”